I Could Eat

I used to think I disliked food.

I ate, of course, and I did enjoy some of what I ate, but it was a question of quantity. My itty bitty list of Foodstuffs I Genuinely Liked was a drop in the ocean next to the master list of Foodstuffs That Exist.

Most of the items on the first list fell into a particular category, too: sweet stuff. From where I stood, I liked sugar in specific; I didn’t like food as a whole.

I held this attitude until I joined Twitter.

Before long, I had people coming out of the woodwork to tell me my tweets made them hungry. They asked what I’d eaten recently, what I was making for supper tonight, what I thought they should make. Did I have a good recipe for this? What about that? Hey, had I ever tried this super-delectable thing? Did I want them to send me a recipe for it?

Clearly, my friends mistook me for a Person Who Liked Food.

As time wore on, though, I began to wonder if I didn’t mistake myself for a Person Who Disliked Food.

I cook a lot. I’m a certified Food Network addict. I’m not above travelling to certain places just because I know I can eat well there. (Hey, New York, how you been?) And I talk (or tweet), often and at great length, about what I’m cooking, what I’m eating, and what I most want to eat in the future.

These are not the actions of someone indifferent to food.

When I took a closer look at my dining habits I realized the foods I dislike are, by and large, those that contain either onions or rubbery animal fat. (Crispy animal fat is sweet manna from heaven and ought to be worshipped as the god it is. Liquid animal fat is also glorious.)

It’s not that I don’t like food. It’s that two very specific types of food ruin the rest of it for me. Cut those out and I’m golden.

Food and I have engaged on a more intimate level since then. I’ve come to terms with how much I love it, and I’ve become even more vocal about the topic. Try to spend more than twenty minutes with me without food entering the conversation. Go on; I dare you.

For some time now, I’ve wanted a place where I could wax rhapsodic about food in a more organized fashion. (Tweets are all very well and good, but they’re somewhat ephemeral, not to mention brief.) While I eventually decided to make this a general blog, rather than something devoted entirely to food, I hope to engage in a fair amount of culinary talk. You know, when I’m so overcome by whatever I just ate that I have to share my thoughts with y’all.

Should be fun.